Moms are holding 'nurse-ins' and 'playdate protests' to fight Trump's family separation policy

(Image credit: ALEX EDELMAN/AFP/Getty Images)

published 26 June 2018

The White House has faced widespread backlash from Republicans and Democrats alike over its "zero tolerance" immigration policy, which resulted in the separation of thousands of migrant children from their parents. Reports of abuse, trauma, and disorganization — hundreds of families have yet to be reunited, and there is uncertainty about how the Trump administration is planning to proceed — have resulted in protests, including a movement to abolish the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement branch of the Department of Homeland Security.

At the forefront of the movement, Waging Nonviolence reports, are mothers:

In this new wave of direct action, as with every other aspect of the grassroots resistance to Trump, women are taking the lead. Parents with small children — mostly moms — have invaded the offices of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, in New York and Chicago to decry family separation and detention. Many more of these "playdate protests" are planned around the country for the coming days.Kids wrapped in thermal blankets occupied the Capitol rotunda in a parent-organized protest last week, and a group of 50 moms held a "nurse-in" outside ICE's New Jersey headquarters. [Waging Nonviolence]

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.